Fitness that keeps you kicking!

Last Saturday, I was asked what does the word fitness mean?  I was on the spot, in front of a large group of people, and I quickly said “the ability to live a long life.”  The person that asked said, that’s a good answer and he asked a few more people what fitness meant to them.  Some said “good health”, “having a strong heart” and another said “flexibility” along with a few more answers.

After I was out of the spotlight, I thought about my answer and realized that it really wasn’t that good of an answer.  On Monday, I was doing The Bathroom Workout, that I posted the other day, and I realized my definition of fitness.

Fitness to me is the ability to live a long life while still being able to move easily.

I see so many older people who loose their ability to do simple things like bend down to tie their shoes or they cannot learn over to pick something up off the floor.  These are people used to be able to do these things with ease but no longer can.  One of the reasons that I workout so much is to keep my body moving.  I was once told that body movement is life and I believe it.

I believe that mobility is a big part of both physical and mental fitness.  When the body is moving vigorously, like when we exercise, blood is flowing throughout it, oxygen intake is increased, the mind is more focused, the lymphatic system is flowing, stress is reduced among other good things that have a positive impact on the body.  That to me is fitness.

Please tell me your definition of fitness by leaving a comment below.